Across the Stars
by DribbleDrabble1908
Summary: His breath grew shallow as he waited for her response. Beyond all reasoning he wanted to be as close to her as he could. She was like a drug, she knew little of the power she held over him. Despite his judgement he found himself to submitting himself to her just as he had before. He knew the risks, and he didn't care. Multichaptered Reylo story post TLJ. Possible M rating later on.
1. Prologue

She forcefully closed the door and watched his hollow face fade. Letting out a breath she hadn't known she was holding, her eyes closed trying to block out the feelings she had just been receiving from him. He was angry, she knew. He always was. But she hadn't expected to feel the waves of regret and hurt he was feeling as they locked eyes.

But they needed to move on. With the Resistance confined to the small space of the Falcon barely able to escape as it was, Rey needed to focus on the people before her. She knew even after their bond closed that he was feeling the sting of her rejection. Pushing forward, she ran to the cockpit to help aid their escape.

He watched her slam her arm into the button to close the door. From his kneeling position he gazed upwards one last time into her hazel eyes. He hadn't expected any of this when landing on the planet. His rage seething through him, unable to focus on anything but destroying what was left of the Resistance that had taken so much from him. But here he was, defeated. His uncle gone, the Resistance fleeing, and the one person he truly felt connected to in years abandoning him for the same thing everyone else did. He should be more angry at his losses, but for that brief moment with her standing above him, he could only feel the pain of everything he had lost that day, including her.

Feeling their connection sever he raised to his full height, swallowed his pathetic emotions, and let his anger flow freely through him once more as he surveyed his surroundings. She was gone, like everyone else in his life. He offered her the galaxy and she didn't want it. She didn't want him. Now it was his turn to close the door on her and move on with his life.


	2. Chapter 1

Weeks had passed since Crait, Rey had thrown herself into whatever she could helping get the Resistance into some sort of stable state. She refused to use the Force, meditate, or rest, but her energy reserves were running very thin, and everyone knew. "Rey.." Leia called gently behind her as she helped Finn repair some of the systems in the base they had taken refuge in. She closed her eyes and let out a quiet sigh. She knew where this was going. Leia was Force sensitive, she knew, and was probably aware of the exhaustion in her mind. Finn gave her a knowing look of pity before she turned and met Leia's gaze.

The older woman's stoic face gave no indication of emotion, but softened when she sighed and gave Rey a once-over. "Come with me." She said and turned to a nearby doorway. Rey followed reluctantly behind into a quiet hall until she found herself in Leias private room. The door behind her slid closed with a quiet whoosh and they were alone. Leia sat at the table on her balcony that overlooked the floral world around them and waved her hand to the opposite chair.

Rey quietly sat and looked out over the jungle around them fully taking it in for the first time since they had gotten here a few days ago. She nervously tangled her fingers together and made sure not to make eye contact with the woman across from her. Instead looking out at all the green she was surrounded by. Suddenly taken aback by how beautiful it was compared to the ugly desert climate Jakku offered. She heard Leia clear her throat quietly and hesitantly forced herself to meet her gaze.

"You've been very busy." she stated, and Rey could see she was searching her eyes for something. "I think it is time we talked about what happened when you were captured. Chewie refused to tell me anything and no one else here seems to know how the Supreme Leader of the First Order was murdered while you were aboard his ship, apparently while in the custody of my son." she ended firmly, but Rey heard the slight waver of her voice at the mention of Ben.

Rey licked her lips as her mouth went suddenly dry at the thought of that day. The day she had tried to purse from her mind since they had left Crait. She thought of several ways to begin the story of her connection with Ben, and what parts she should skip over before the other woman across the table gently leaned forward and grabbed her hand. "Rey, I don't know what has happened since you were with him but I can see that it's tearing you apart. You've worked yourself to the bone, barely eaten or slept. Please tell me what I can do to help you." she pleaded and gave her hand a gentle squeeze.

The last few weeks of emotion that had been dammed up suddenly burst at the gentle gesture and Rey found tears streaming down her face. "I.. I thought I could save him." she sobbed and buried her face in her hands. The story of their connection, their meeting, and battle poured out of her before she had a chance to stop herself. She saw Leia straighten and attempt to hide her own emotions as the hope of her sons redemption was told to her.

"He asked you to join him?" she said barely above a whisper. "Yes. I begged him not to ask me, begged for another way but in the end there wasn't an option. We both reached for the saber at the same time and it exploded from the force of us both." She said and looked down at her hands. "That's when I escaped. He was still unconscious when I left him." she finished. "I see." Leia said and looked out over the jungle below them. They were both silent for a while, tying to comprehend everything that was just laid bare.

"So the bond is broken then? Snoke is dead." Leia stated firmly. Rey felt her stomach tumble at the thought of her last meeting with Ben. It had been after Snoke was long dead, and the connection was just as strong as before. "No." She said quietly and looked up at Leia's shocked face before quickly recounting their last meeting. She watched as Leia bit her lip and held her jaw with her hand. "That is why I cannot use the Force. Meditate, or do anything that may bring the connection back." Rey said firmly. "As long as I keep my connection to the Force under control then we cannot be connected. I don't even know what he would do if we were to speak again. He's not just angry with me, I felt it." She watched Leia's eyebrow raise with curiosity. "He's... he feels rejected by me. He let me get close and then I hurt him. The last thing could feel was his abandonment."

Leia sighed lamely. "Rey, you cannot continue like this. You're barely holding it together as it is. Is there anything we can do, anything I can do to help you?" she asked and felt her heart sink at the misery in the girls eyes. "I don't know." Rey said as she rubbed her face in her hands. "I don't know how much longer I can block the Force out, I'm afraid I'm running out of time. Sooner or later the connection will break through again and I don't know what will happen when he sees me." she said quietly a tear streaming down her face. "And the worst part is that I can't blame him for being angry." she said and her eyes widened at the statement she had just made. Leia only looked at her quizzically. "I.. I only mean that... with the connection, I was able to begin to understand him.. a little bit." she said attempting to better explain. "In his eyes he has only seen abandonment and mistrust. I was the exception to that, until I did exactly what his worst fears were." she bit her lip at her feeble attempt.

"This may prove to be the stupidest thing I've ever done." Leia said and she leaned back in her chair. "But I think you need to open your connection to the Force back up." she finished slowly and watched the shock register on Rey's face. She held her hand up cutting of whatever rebuttal she was about to receive. "I only mean this." She stated. "Your connection with him is more than this war. More than the light and dark side. If you both are still able to connect to each other it is because the Force wills it. Not because of whatever Snoke was taking credit for. And besides," She breathed a heavy sigh. "If you're correct, you will end up connecting with him again sooner or later and if that is to happen you need to be as strong as you possibly can. Physically, and in the Force. From now on I want you to start training, meditating, whatever you need to do to make sure you will be ready to face him again"

Rey sat back in her chair, unable to process what was just spoken. She knew deep down that Leia was right, and that preparing for the worst was the only thing she could do right now. Lamely she nodded her head and released some of the tension she was holding. Her body ached for meditation and sleep. "You are now formally relieved of any active duty. You are free to use your time to devote to training however you see fit." Leia said with a set jaw of determination. Rey nodded in response and got up to leave. "And Rey," Leia called from behind her. She turned back and met her eyes. "This 'connection' information will stay strictly between you and I." A curt nod and Rey was on her way back to her quarters. She crashed onto her bed and fell into a deep sleep. As painful as it was, talking about everything that had happened had helped to lift the weight that had been placed on her since shutting her connection off.

Slowly, carefully, she began to clear her mind. Just a small bit, to help clear her thoughts and aid in pulling her into the deep sleep she knew she needed. She suddenly felt the peace of the Force in her mind and settled down for the first time in weeks.


	3. Chapter 2

Kylo stared blankly across the table. He vaguely heard the officers around him bleakly discussing the future plans of the First Order. To his right, Hux was seated and intently listening to the various reports being given. Kylo didn't care to be at these meetings. The meaningless drabble the were discussing was of little importance to him, but he knew it was important to remain appearing like what they were saying mattered so they wouldn't get the idea that they could do whatever they wanted when he wasn't present.

"We've made no contact with any of our spies regarding the Resistance." one of them said. His attention quickly snapped to them at the mere mention of them. The room shifted as the officers took note of the Supreme Leader's sudden interest. "It seems that they have kept very quiet and have found a reasonable place to hide, although I imagine it will take quite some time for them to rebuild their forces large enough for us to take notice. I believe there were less than 30 that were able to escape." the officer finished.

"Do not underestimate them." Kylo said calmly with his brow lowered. "Just because there are few left doesn't mean we disregard them. Keep looking, I will expect there to be news of them at our next meeting." He said gravely and felt the heart rate of the officer increase with worry. _"Pathetic"_ he thought. "Enough of this. Continue the meeting in my absence." he nodded to Hux who had a small smirk appear on his otherwise bland face as he strode out of the door.

Continuing to his main chamber he stepped inside and let the door lock behind him. Meetings and more meetings. Worthless words with little action. Without knowing the location of the Resistance there was little he was interested in. The First Order had suffered many losses in the past few months. They were currently trying to lick their wounds without letting the rest of the galaxy know just how far they had fallen. Within the upper leveled officers and generals, Kylo was attempting to prove to be a capable Supreme Leader. He felt their doubts when they were near. They were all weak-minded and easily manipulated. Hux decidedly less so, but he had still proved to be a valuable asset when it came to the massive reorganization of the Order, so he continued to live, despite his constant thoughts of murdering Kylo.

Walking up to the window and gazing out at the stars he stared past into the blackness of space. He felt the familiar twinge of regret that had so easily greeted him whenever he was alone. Angry and hurt as he was, he found himself missing her in these moments. _"No."_ He mentally scolded himself. He would not allow himself to think of her. Instead he took whatever he had felt for her and turned it into fuel for his anger and hatred. Pushing her from his mind, he took off his uniform and settled into a softer shirt and pant combination so he could meditate.

Leaning into the dark side of the Force he felt his heart rate calm and meld into the mix of emotions. Heat, passion, hatred, lust. He felt it all, and let himself get lost in it.

He didn't know how long he had been meditating when his thoughts turned to her again. Desperately he tried to focus on something else, _anything else._ His consciousness reaching out into the Force, but feeling nothing. _"It is strange."_ He thought to himself. The bond between him and Rey had obviously not been broken since he was able to see her on Crait, but since then he hasn't been able to make contact with her, willingly or not. Which was odd, considering before that they would appear to each other every day, sometimes multiple times a day. But since then nothing.

He found it intriguing and used it as an excuse to reach out to her, but only felt the vast void of space. " _If she were blocking it, I'd know. Maybe seeing her last time was just the dying effect of Snoke and now the bond is truly broken."_ he surmised. He set his jaw and tried to swallow the disappointment that he felt. " _It's better this way."_ he decided. His annoyance with himself overtook his feelings of disappointment.

" _Pathetic. She used you. She betrayed you. She left you. She is no one to you. Let it go."_ He repeated the mantra a few times before he decided to quit meditating altogether. Readying himself for bed earlier than he usually would he sat staring at his lightly furnished room. He used to enjoy the simplicity of it. The quiet, dark, space where he could be in peace alone. Now it was different. The dark looked uninviting, cold even, and the quiet hum of the ship strangled him. He messaged his face in his hands for a few moments before taking a small black pill that eased him into a deep, dreamless state.

* * *

Rey awoke feeling more refreshed than she could have imagined. She breathed a sigh of relief having survived without any dreams, or meetings. Gingerly sitting up she looked at the time and realized it was well before anyone else would be awake for the normal morning shift. Attempting to settle back down she felt her stomach grumble loudly and decided to get up any way.

The dimly lit halls led her down to the make-shift cafeteria where a few people were sitting quietly. She quickly went and grabbed a breakfast ration before slipping back out into the halls. She decided to explore some of the area's of the base she hadn't seen before. She knew very little of the planet they were on Shi'Kesh. Other than the jungle climate and obvious old Rebellion hideout. It had taken a lot of man-hours just to get the basic wings powered up, but there was still quite a bit that no one had ventured to. She reached a hall that didn't have any lighting, but decided to head down it anyway- allowing herself to use the Force to see what was around her. The narrow hall curved downward until she reached a relatively large room. She felt no other openings, but various boxes and debris around her. " _Maybe this would be a good place to train?"_ She thought and made a mental note to ask about powering the room later on.

Returning down the hallway she decided to head into the main control room to see who was on shift. There were only a few people around the room. Monitoring the local area and attempting to fix some of the consoles. She eyed Poe in the corner of the room and made her way to meet him. "Well hey there sleepyhead, I'm surprised your up. Leia gave explicit orders for you to be left alone and off duty so everyone assumed you were pretty sick." he said lightheartedly nudging her in the shoulder. She laughed and returned the nudge. "I just needed to catch up on some sleep. Leia wants to make sure I'm taking the time to train and become as strong as I can for the Resistance." She said feeling bad about the slight lie she had to tell him.

"Well I can't blame her for that, you're pretty amazing already and you'd be pretty unstoppable given more training." He said with a smirk and watched her cheeks burn. She didn't like talking about her abilities. Especially with non-force users, only because they had the tendency to think she was some sort of god. She abruptly changed the subject, mentioning the room she had found. Poe grabbed a nearby map and she showed him the one she refereed to. It appeared just to be some sort of storage room. "I'll see if I can't get some power diverted over there for you, sweetheart." he said lightheartedly with a wink. With that she gave a small smile and withdrew back to her quarters.

The small plain room had very little in it aside from the makeshift bed she had made. As with many of the rooms in the base, she was curious what the room was used for, or meant to be used for. For now, it was her own private space. She settled cross legged on the bed and in the quiet hours of the morning tried to meditate the best she could.

She slowed her breathing. Taking note of all around her on this strange planted. The life, death, and force between. She breathed deep and let it flow through her, the edged of her mouth curling up into a smile. She'd missed this. The feeling of the Force flowing freely through her. Connecting her to everything around her. Pulling her out of herself she floated there within her mind. Balanced.

She felt strong, so she delved deeper, unaware of what she might find. She reached out through the Force as it flowed through her every vein, filling her very being being to heal. She had forgotten what it had felt like to be connected to everything. To feel as her and the Force were _one._ Basking in the glow she reigned it back in, careful not to extend too far from herself.

 ** _"Rey?"_**

She stopped. Her concentration broken, she felt herself collapse back onto the bed. But she couldn't help recognize his voice. Internally she chastised herself for delving too deep, too fast into the Force. But she was also confused. He sounded shocked, like he couldn't explain why he could feel her. There was no anger either. She shook it off and vowed to be more careful in the future. He knew he could connect to her now, and it was only a matter of time before he came back to her, stronger than before.


	4. Chapter 3

"Rey?"

The name passed over his lips gently as Kylo awoke from his dream. He was vaguely aware of the room around him as he tried to understand what had just happened. He had been in a deep sleep, just as he had intended. But somewhere in the dreamless void he could have sworn he felt her, unlike any way he had before. He never saw her, never heard her speak, but he could have sworn he felt her Force signature. Cool and collected, with an unimaginable joy he had come to know as just.. _her._

He tentatively called out to her, and that was when he woke.

" _I must be losing it. Now I can't even stop dreaming of her."_ he thought. This new form of torture he had no control over. He could focus his thoughts elsewhere when he was awake, channeling his feelings into his power with the dark side, but this.. this is something entirely out of his control.

With even the thought of feeling her again real or not, it broke open the wounds he was trying to ignore. He balled his fists and slammed them into the nearest wall with a resounding yell. He was the _Supreme Leader_! He had everything he could ever want. Money, power, fame. Yet none of it was enough. He had given everything he had to the First Order, to Snoke, and what had he gotten in return? A shitty nights sleep dreaming about a girl he hoped he'd never see again.

Angrily he changed into his training clothes and left to vent some of his anger on training simulations before he ended up killing the next person who looked at him wrong.

"I want that sleeping medication doubled tonight." he fumed to the nearest droid as his long strides carried him towards his destination.

* * *

Over the next few weeks, Rey was careful to guard her connection to the Force as she began to train, and so far, no connections had been made. The room she had found was cleared, and was furnished with whatever they found that was thought useful for training and meditating. But after many days of training, Rey found herself become restless.

"I need to do something, _anything._ " she breathed to the small group in front of her. Leia, Poe, and Finn stood around her looking equally concerned. "I think I need to go out and begin to explore some of the stuff around us. I can't just stay inside all day its beginning to drive me insane." she said desperately trying to get them to understand. She just wanted to explore outside, but as soon as she started to slip out Poe and Finn caught her and sent her straight to Leia.

"We don't exactly know what's out there, sweetheart." Poe retorted. That had become her new nickname whether she liked it or not. She rolled her eyes at the comment. "That is exactly my point. I need the unexpected. I need something I can fight that I don't have to worry about seriously hurting. She eyed Finn who had been the one to help her with her sparring recently. "Rey you've only just begun to really get your strength back, I'm not sure this is the best idea right now." he argued.

Leia just sat in silence as the other three argued. Listening intently but keeping quiet for the time being. Rey gave her a pleading look. If she could handle Kylo, she can handle whatever beasts might be in the nearby jungle. With a sigh Leia held up her hands in mock defeat which silenced the two men beside her. "Just promise me you will keep a comm on you and you wont go farther than a hundred meters from the base."

"Done!" Rey said joyously as the other two complained at her decision. Leia eyed them harshly. "Rey has proven time and time again to be more capable than _both_ of you, so can you just shut up and trust her?" she said irritably and walked away. Rey beamed as she did and began straight for the door. "I still don't like this." Poe called from behind her. "Swear your going to be careful?" Finn called after. She didn't care. With a slight nod she made her way out of the base and into the dense forest.

To say it was a breath of fresh air to get out of that base was an understatement. All of her life Rey had been scavenging, spending little time in the space she called home on Jakku. Since then she'd been jumping from one place to the next in a crazy whirlwind and now is suddenly confined to this tiny base for weeks. Worst of all, she was able to feel the world around her when she used the Force. That's part of the reason why she was so desperate to get out in the first place. She wanted to see the world she had been Force sensing for herself.

She made her way down a nearby hill where she knew a stream would be. The bubbling water made it's way through the dense foliage in a curious way. Rey decided it was an easy path to follow to get a ways away from the base and the peering eyes she knew were trying to keep track of her. As soon as it was out of sight, it was no surprise to hear her comm go off. "Rey are you okay?" a worried voice called to her. "Yes I'm fine. I'm just walking." She said irritated. Poe was someone who she hadn't known for very long, but they had gotten close these past few weeks. Finn hadn't been around as much as Rey had anticipated. He had spent most of his time with an injured engineer, Rose. They talked a little about the complex relations between Finn and Rose as soon as they had the time to.

Finn was faced with an incredible guilt since she had only become injured by saving him from apparent suicide. He alluded to there being a bit of a romantic connection between the two, which made even more sense to his constant devotion to help with her recovery. Instead she had found she spent most of her free time with Poe Dameron. Aside from loving to call her by his pet name, which annoyed her to no end, he actually was quite a nice friend to have around. They shared stories of what each had been going through the weeks leading up to the Battle of Crait. She made sure to leave out any of the parts relating to her connection with Kylo, which in turn meant lying about who really killed Snoke and garnering more respect than she felt she deserved.

After getting all of those stories out of the way, they mainly were able to discuss new plans for the Resistance, Rey's training (or lack of), and a few personal bits here and there of each others upbringing. She felt relaxed with him. He was the complete opposite of Ben. Calm, gentle, good-natured. But sometimes, he could be a little too protective for Rey's liking.

"I will be sure to call if there is any trouble but until then will you _please_ let me walk in peace?" She said exasperatedly into her comm. "Hey, hey, hey, no need to be so touchy I'm just making sure you're okay." He shot back and she could hear the smile in his voice. "I'm fine Poe, thank you. If there is anything to report you will be the first to know. " she said apologetically and left it at that. Maybe she should appreciate that he was taking the time to care about her. It was just a very foreign feeling.

Continuing to follow the stream down, it was met with other several streams before it had finally become a decent size. The cool clear water trickled through rocks and vines, creating small waterfalls here and there. It was enchanting for Rey to watch. She had never seen such a thing on Jakku, or anywhere for that matter. She felt the peace and harmony at the joining of the streams. "This is it." she breathed as she reached a small clearing. Whatever she had been looking for, it was here.

Finding a good spot she began to clear a space away. She sat down and crossed her legs to meditate. Breathing in the cool air the jungle offered, and relishing in the sound of the water beside her. She reached out with the force, as she had done a few times lately. She was always surprised to find that there was nothing there. No angry Kylo waiting to kill her. Nothing.

She decided to push harder, just to see if anything was there. She felt strong, but she felt lost and isolated at the same time. She found herself wishing... wishing to be back with him. Before things got complicated. When she felt she could finally speak to someone who understood, who may even be able to help her. Back when she had hope that he could be saved.. and that she could be the one to bring about his redemption.

Despite what he wanted to believe. She didn't want to just abandon him in Snoke's throne room, but there was no other option at the time. She had to make her choice, and she was not about to let everyone she ever loved die. He was safe, unconscious, but safe when she left him the first time, and he was just as safe when she closed the door on him.

" _Maybe the bond really is broken?"_ She thought to herself. She pushed herself again. Opening herself up completely to the will of the Force, just as Luke had taught her to.

* * *

He could swear he heard her call his name.

It had been weeks since he dreamed of her. He made sure when he was asleep he dreamed of nothing. He refused to dream of her, or his parents, or Luke. To have any element of his life out of his control.

He felt a disturbance. A pull. Something that felt off. Quickly dismissing himself from the bridge he made his way to his quarters and settled down to meditate. He reached out with the Force. Attempting to visualize whatever he had felt.

Nothing. There was only blackness, and a dead silence. He locked his jaw in frustration, perhaps he was wrong. Clenching his fists in he snapped open his eyes to return to his duties when he was frozen in shock. She was there, in front of him, meditating from the looks of it. Her brow furrowed in concentration. She hadn't noticed his presence and seemed to be losing herself in the Force around her.

He took a selfish, guilty moment to just stare at her. Tracing the lines down her face. She looked stronger than he had remembered. More determined. Her muscles more toned than the last time he saw her. She must be training. But why was she calling out to him? Why create a connection when it was obvious they could have left it severed.

He didn't know what to do, to say. The last time they had met she made it very clear what her intentions were, and that was months ago. Why hadn't the connection opened since then, and why now?

* * *

Rey suddenly felt a shift in the atmosphere around her. She gasped and opened her eyes. There he was, right in front of her in a similar position of meditation. " _How long has he been here? Why didn't I notice?"_

She forced herself to meet his gaze. His dark eyes like two dark pools reflecting her own confusion.

She was frozen, unable to say anything, lest risk the wrath she was sure he had pent up against her. Her eyes darted downward and noted his meditative position.

"Why now." was all he said, his deep voice resonating calmly between them. She stirred lightly and stared intently at the plants before her.

Breathing deeply in effort to calm her beating heart she forced herself to meet his gaze. "I closed myself off from the Force." she replied and watched as he took in her words. "Why _now_." he repeated again emphasizing his question. "I couldn't go on like that forever." was her simple reply.

She watched as his brows furrowed, in thought or anger she didn't know. He was calm with her now, but unpredictable, and could snap at any moment. They sat in silence for a moment. Both too stubborn to start any conversation. What was left to be said? They made their choices.

"Was it worth it?" she found herself asking after a moment. She had spent so much time the past months wondering if he was happy with his choices. "Killing Snoke, becoming Supreme Leader. Have you found what you're looking for?" her voice twisted in disgust. She was stirring the rage in him, she knew, she could feel it through their bond. Whatever feelings he had been suppressing he now shared with her full force.

She expected him to lash out and her, to yell and throw, but she was suprised to look and find his eyes downcast and rage being swallowed.

"No." he said and she tilted her head in confusion as her temper ignited. "THEN WHY?" She yelled and leapt to her feet. "Was everything for nothing?" she seethed bitterly as tears formed in her eyes. "You have killed so many, destroyed lives, taken whatever you wanted, and you are still as lost as before? _Why Ben!"_ her anger turning in to a pleading question for justification.

The anger he had been swallowing reared it's ugly head as he raised himself from the ground. "There was no other way, I did what I had to." he snarled at her. "I don't expect you to ever understand. You made you're choice." he said with disgust.

"I had to!" she cried exasperatedly, tears streaking down her face in agony.

"YOU DID NOT!" he yelled forcefully as he turned from her striking something that must have been nearby. "I offered you _everything,_ Rey." he said swiftly turning back to face her. "You could have stayed with me, instead you chose to trick me and leave." the bitterness and hurt in his voice betrayed his seething figure.

She felt her heart skip as he mentioned her name and wiped the tears off of her face. "I didn't want to." she stated looking at him. Hoping he would see the pleading in her eyes. She watched as his features softened and turn to confusion. She attempted to explain before he started jumping to conclusions. "You have to understand. I couldn't let them die. They were all I had. Resistance or not, they were my only friends." she begged him to understand.

He winced at her words and looked away huffing in exasperation. "Don't you get it, Rey? I gave up everything for you. I killed my master for you, for us. You were all I had." he said and she felt the contempt he had for himself in sharing it.

She felt her body relax and her anger was replaced with pity. Pity for the man standing in front of her, so confused with his hatred and rage in the dark side that he had abandoned all reasoning. Behind the tall, fearless facade, she could see the broken man laid bare.

They both stayed motionless, only feet apart. "I'm sorry." was all she said. She could feel his anger budding again as her pity washed over him.


	5. Chapter 4

He felt his anger swell as her pity reached him. He did _not_ need her pity. He was Kylo Ren, Supreme Leader of The First Order. Pity was the last thing he needed.

"I'm sorry."

He couldn't believe what he just heard. His anger swallowed as he gazed curiously at her petite figure.

He didn't know what to think, he didn't know how to feel. He could almost understand her reasoning. But before he could dare to respond she was gone. He was left alone in his dark quarters, wounds reopened and burning.

* * *

Rey didn't want to explain to Leia what had happened between her and Ben. There was little that could be done so there was no point dragging another person into this mess.

She continued to train indoors and meditate outdoors when the weather allowed. There were frequent rainstorms this deep in the jungle, not that Rey minded all that much, but that was where Poe drew the line. "If you go out in that you're going to get drenched and sick. So _please,_ can you just stay in when its like this?" he begged.

She sighed and refrained from rolling her eyes at him. "Besides," he said more gently, "When its storming this bad the electric current in the atmosphere blocks the signal to the comm and I am definitely not letting you go out there without one." his brow furrowed, his brown eyes twinkling at her.

She knew the argument was lost and she playfully punched him. "Fine, you win this one Dameron. But next time, I'm going out." she said as she sauntered off back to her training room. "Over my dead body, sweetheart." She heard him say under his breath as she left.

She settled for kick boxing with the make-shift punching bag Poe and Finn helped her put together. Channeling all her frustration with the past few days on the bag, she winced when she saw her knuckles start to bleed.

"You're supposed to wrap those so that doesn't happen." she heard from beside her and jumped.

His anger from the last time they met seemed to have faded at least enough for him to talk to her in a cool voice. Attempting to ignore him, she used on of the bandages from the med-kit she always kept nearby (for Finn) and began punching harder than before.

He watched her waste her little remaining strength on whatever she was punching. She wouldn't last much longer before she'd collapse of exhaustion he noted.

She finally gave up. Sweat dripping down her face, her lungs burning as she panted to regain her composure. She didn't know what to say to him. How to proceed. It seemed their relationship was one giant confusing mess after another.

He leaned against a wall and met her gaze. Unable to help admiring her determination. Her face was red and sweaty from fatigue, but her eyes danced when they met his. He had spend a lot of time meditating lately. Trying to understand the rush of feelings he was left with after their last meeting. Some days he raged, others he had a quiet hope that there was still a chance to convert her to the dark side.

But her gaze silenced his wandering mind. He found himself getting lost in her. His dreary days were forgotten when he looked at her. He vaguely remembered the sheer power in their small touch months ago, and couldn't help himself from wishing he had the opportunity to do it again. To connect. To feel.

He was looking at her more intently than she could ever remember. His feelings were well hidden from her and she was uncertain as to the intent behind his look. She briefly remembered his admittance to unhappiness the last time they had met. She felt her heart flutter as she returned his long look. Perhaps if they could just get past the hurt and confusion of what had happened on Crait she could still have a chance to see her vision of him turning realized.

"Ben, I.." she started and her sentence trailed off. She didn't even know how to begin with him.

"You don't have to say anything." He said, his baritone voice sending shivers down her spine.

She gave a small nod in agreement. He seemed willing to move on without rehashing everything, and if the chance was given she would take him up on the offer.

"Have you been training?" he asked attempting to change the subject. For now, just being near her was enough for him. There was no point bringing up the events that stirred the most anger and confusion between the two of them.

She nodded again. "Poorly I'm afraid. There isn't much to work with where we are right now and there are an unfortunate amount of Force-users willing to teach left in the galaxy.." she ended bitterly, almost with a laugh.

Kylo didn't laugh. "Do you want me to train you?" he offered before he even had the chance to truly think about what he was offering. She looked at him with surprise and skepticism.

His breaths grew shallow as he waited for her response. Beyond all reasoning he wanted to be as close to her as he could. She was like a drug, she knew little of the power she held over him. Despite his judgement he found himself to submitting himself to her just as he had before. He knew the risks, and he didn't care.

"You want to train me?" She asked with disbelief. He stood firmly in front of her and didn't even flinch.

"Unless you think me unworthy to." He said flatly, but she felt the teasing through their bond.

"No, I.." she started, "I mean if you want to.." she stuttered. "I'm willing to take all the help I can get."

* * *

They were able to begin taking control over their bond. Making set time to train, and learning how to reach the other. It was mostly sparring, but just that was exhilarating for Rey.

Having the opportunity to finally train with someone her was her better. They talked very little aside from training instructions and comments. There was no point to bring anything else up. It was simply just a time to forget about their differences and enjoy the time they had together.

Kylo found less meaning in his work as Supreme Leader than ever before. He found that almost all of his time was focused on Rey, and whenever their next time to meet was. This disconnect did not go unnoticed by Hux and the other generals of The First Order. Kylo was rarely seen out of his quarters. Meeting attendance was minimal, requests waved to Hux's control.

"There has been.. talk." Hux stated blandly to Ren and he stared out a nearby window. "Of what." Kylo responded irritably turning to the smaller man. "There are many who do not believe you are showing enough dedication to The Order. There has been talk of overthrowing you for a more... competent leader." he stated squinting his eyes and clasping his hands behind his back.

He felt hands tighten around his throat as Kylo placed him in a Force choke. "As my second in command I believe it is your job to dispel such.. _talk."_ he said with an emphatic squeeze. "What I do or do not do is my own concern. We have been making progress on our expansion and have several more systems in sight. Remind those who would speak against me that it is considered high treason and _WILL NOT_ be tolerated." he said and dropped the gasping man on the ground.

"As... you wish... Supreme.. Leader.." Hux choked out. Kylo left the bridge and returned to his quarters. He was going to need to be much more careful in the future if such talk has been going around. There was a delicate balance within The First Order. If his soldiers expected to be given constant instruction and supervision, that was exactly what they were going to be given.

* * *

 **Author's Note:**

Well hellooooo there readers!

I wanted to get a few chapters in and get a good feel for the story before I started bugging you all. I had a generic idea for how I wanted to start the story but we truly are in uncharted territory now! Drop me a review if you have some feedback, because I'd love to get a feel for how you all are doing with the story.

I couldn't help write a Reylo fic after watching TLJ, two years for the next movie is a _sickening_ amount of time for me to wait so I've been devouring story after story on here since seeing the movie last month.

Also can we all take a moment to appreciate the glory that is Adam Driver as Kylo? Damn that man's voice is _smooth._ The fact that I can't actually hear his voice say the things I've been reading/writing is tragic beyond belief. Adam if you ever end up reading this (because what actor _doesn't_ read the fics of their character?) hit me up cause I know this really great bakery we could go to and all you have to do is talk I'll just sit and listen to that voice all day.


	6. Chapter 5

"We have a problem" Leia stated as she looked around the small room. The little team of Resistance survivors were gathered together in the mess hall. "I won't sugar-coat this. We have limited resources here, and things are beginning to run low. The few allies we have left are growing weary, and have little hope."

Concerned glances were shared around the room and hushed words were whispered. "I have tried my best to begin negotiations with any ally, current or former who I think may be able to help. There are a few, but they have asked for verification on a few things." she turned and faced Rey.

"We have a difficult situation." she began. "I have alluded to the fact that we have a Jedi with us, but words aren't enough. I have several groups that wish to see Rey in person. There will be a meeting on Coruscant in one week. If you're willing, you will have to go and represent the Resistance to several political groups." she gave Rey a sympathetic look.

"Well if she's going anywhere I'm going." Poe called out immediately. "Yeah you better believe I'm there too." Finn answered after. Both men were drowned out at the sound of a loud growl from Chewie.

Rey just sat and watched. She didn't particularly mind being assigned a mission, nor did she mind the idea of Poe and Finn tagging along. But there was something else, something Leia hadn't mentioned yet. She sat patiently and waited for the older woman to continue.

"It's unfortunately not as simple as it seems." she continued, leaning her weight onto her staff. "I didn't bring it up before since I didn't want to worry you, Rey, but the First Order has had explicit orders to find and execute you since you killed their Supreme Leader. The whole galaxy is on guard and looking for your face. In addition to that, Coruscant is close to the First Order's remaining fleet and there is always the possibility the information of this meeting will have made it to their informants." she finished and sighed.

The reality hit Rey. This wasn't just an ordinary mission. She would be putting everything on the line just to have the chance to try to convince some political leaders to help what little of the Resistance was left. She looked up to find everyone eyeing her. Some with pity, others with determination. There was no thinking. This had to be done. Without the aid of their allies they were doomed. They wouldn't be able to last much longer with the way things are.

She stood up and walked to Leia and gave her a determined half smile.

"When do we leave?"

* * *

In less than a day they boarded The Falcon and began their journey to the other side of the system. "He says it's going to take longer because he needs to bounce in between systems so no one can follow us or trace us back to the Resistance." Rey translated to Poe and heard Chewie give her an approving growl.

"Well if he's going to be taking control like this what in the hell am I supposed to be doing?" Poe demanded raising his hands in frustration.

 _"Anything that gets his loud mouth out of my damn cockpit."_ Chewie growled distractedly while trying to get the ship started. Rey gave Poe a sympathetic pat on the shoulder and laughed as she made her way to the back of the ship.

She surveyed the room and found Finn settling in next to the Dejarik table attempting to get the game started up. "Want to play a game or two?" He said and she could feel his anxiety flow off of him in waves. "Sounds like it's going to be a long ride."

She gave him a half-smile. "Worried about Rose?" she said and watched his eyes flicker nervously from hers to the board. "It's just.. " He started. "Things between us are... complicated, and this is the first time I've left her since she recovered." Rey gave a knowing sigh. She knew complicated.

That's been her whole relationship with Ben from the get-go. If you can even call whatever they had been doing lately a relationship. It was more of, an.. understanding. It was a mutually beneficial training relationship..

Even as she said it in her head she winced. They hadn't talked about anything other than training and things had been.. intense, lately. More than a few times she caught herself enjoying the little time she spent with him being the highlight of her day. His presence was a calming atmosphere where she just felt _free._ There was no one there who thought her a great Force user, Sith killer, Jedi. No expectations. Just the freedom to be, and she hoped, maybe she was that same thing for him.

She suddenly realized the tangent she had followed off on while Finn was still explaining his delicate situation with her. She pulled herself back into the moment and took note of what he was saying to her. "Well worrying so much about it isn't going to make anything better." She said lightheartedly sitting next to him and giving him a small side hug. "Yeah I know, that's why I just need to distract myself from it." he said waving his hand over the table.

"Distract yourself from what?" Poe said as he sauntered out from the front of the ship. "Nothing." Finn said quickly and attempted to hide the blush that crept up onto his cheeks. He hadn't spoken to anyone else about Rose from what Rey knew, and especially intended to keep it that way from Poe, who had the tendency to run his mouth around _everyone._

Poe gave them both a quizzical look and his eyes settled on the arm around Finn. Rey was suddenly very aware of how this must look and dropped her arm nervously. "Why don't you both play a game of Dejarik and get yourselves occupied?" She said quickly standing up and noting the time. She heard them both mumble as she made her way into Han's old room. This would have to do, it was just about time for their training, and she still hadn't had the opportunity to talk to him about postponing them until she was back.

She settled down into a meditative pose on the bed and settled herself into the Force. She focused her energy on him and tried to visualize him the best she could.

Unlike usual, he wasn't there to meet her. She pressed harder, wondering if she had just caught him too soon. Slowly she began to see him appear before her. He was in his uniform, sitting somewhere. His back turned to her. "Ben?" she called out confusingly. If he heard her, he didn't show it. She began to walk in front of him, to see if he could even see her. He looked off to the side, as if out a window then suddenly his dark eyes pierced hers.

* * *

The rooms atmosphere changed around him. She was here, he knew. He pretended to listen intently to what the general beside him was reporting before he heard her call his name. "Ben?" she called out tentatively. He reveled in the feeling of hearing his given name come from her lips. He didn't move, lest make any sort of scene in front of the group of men he was well aware were watching his every move.

She walked in front of him. Standing behind one of the men on the other side of the table. He wished desperately to be able to communicate with her. There was no time to explain the sudden need to reduce their training sessions. Let alone explain the reasoning behind it. He had just hoped he could find a quiet moment with her.

He looked out the window to his left, as if in deep thought about the conversation. Then immediately made eye contact with her. She appeared shocked for a moment, still confused about what was going on. " _Shit, there's got to be a way to talk with her."_ he thought to himself. He assessed the table around him. Most of the men were paying attention to Commander Portcur. He fixated on her eyes and attempted to share his thoughts.

 _"We're going to have to reschedule."_ he thought. He watched her face light up in shock. Good. It was working. " _That's what I was going to tell you too."_ she responded. Without thinking, he raised an eyebrow with intrigue. What reasoning would she have to reschedule?

"Anything you wish to add, Supreme Leader?" Hux hissed at his side and he was suddenly drawn back into the moment. Without missing a beat he narrowed his eyes and curled his lip in disgust. "If there was something I wished to share, General, I will do so." he said in disgust and waited for the Commander to continue.

He could feel her confusion at the situation, but there was nothing he could do without drawing more attention to himself. He mentally withdrew what he could to try to sever the connection. It didn't take long before she understood and was able to disappear.

"Now, Commander Faro, I believe you had news regarding the Resistance?" Hux continued with a hint of irritation in his voice. Kylo made it a point to keep his face looking disinterested as the subject changed.

"Ah yes." the Commander began. "It seems after months in hiding the Resistance has finally decided to call on help. We still are not aware of their exact location, but there has been rumors that a meeting will be taking place on Coruscant very soon to convince potential allies to stand with them again. It's unknown at this time who exactly will be attending. We are already taking extra precautions with security." He finished.

"Good." Hux praised. "I would assume our favorite new Jedi will be in attendance. Make sure her face is plastered everywhere. I want everyone looking for her. She will be paying for her crimes against the First Order." He ended and his face twisted into a smile. Kylo felt his heart race with the realization of what Rey would be subject to if Hux had his way with her. His hands balled in anger and he watched Hux continue the meeting with delighted sneer.

Kylo suddenly realized what Rey had mentioned to him. Hux must be right. She's on her way to Coruscant and has no clue what was waiting for her.

* * *

 ** _Author's Note:_**

Glad you all are enjoying the story so far! I've got the next few chapters lined out in my head and oohhh you all are going to love it! I'm glad that you've all complimented that Rey and Ben are true to their characters, this was a really important part for me because I really want this to be like a continuation of TLJ so that has been a really important aspect of my writing. Don't get me wrong though, I've read some really great fluff pieces on here too, but that's just a different class in its own, and not one I think i'd be very good at writing haha


	7. Chapter 6

"We need to talk." he said. She turned, suprised to find him materialize behind her. It had been days since their last meeting and they were nearing Coruscant. She didn't initiate any contact with him, she sensed something was off when she last saw him, and decided the best course of action was to wait until he had the time to reach out to her.

"Okay?" She blinked and sat on the corner of her bed, her heart beating fast at the sudden seriousness. She searched his dark eyes curiously for any trace as to what he wanted to say. He took a deep breath in, as if suddenly unsure how to speak to her.

"I know about your mission to Coruscant." he stated and cut her off before she could protest. "It's dangerously close to The First Order, there wasn't any way you'd be able to plan something like this without word getting out."

She stopped and stared at the floor, uncertain what this information meant for their mission. She returned her gaze to his face, he was fixated on her. His hollow cheeks shadowed in the dim lighting. "Why are you telling me this?" She asked simply, wondering what his motivations truly were.

He stepped towards her and she felt herself shrink into the bed away from him. "At this time the First Order does not know any specific information about where the meeting will take place or when, but you should know how dangerous it is for you to go out. They've never stopped looking for you, and there will be spies everywhere on the planet."

She looked at him in confusion and shook her head. "I don't understand, Ben. Why are you helping me. After everything..?" she trailed off. He just stood there, and she could feel the conflict in his heart. " _He probably doesn't even know. Maybe, there's still a chance?_ " she thought to herself. She stood and strode until she was before him, forcing him to look into her eyes.

"I can feel your confliction, Ben." she said. She watched his jaw tighten and his shallow breaths increase. Uncertain if her words were even making an impact she pursed her lips and held her hand out towards him. His eyes dropped to the outstretched hand before him. "It's not too late." she said, barely above a whisper.

* * *

His eyes darkened for a moment before they met hers again. Absentmindedly, he pulled his glove off, reaching his hand towards hers. Mentally picturing the last time they had done this, and the spark of electricity that flew between them.

Truthfully, he didn't fully understand why he was telling her anything. Damn the Resistance and their plans, but Rey would not get caught in the cross-fire. There was still a chance to turn her. But then she stands before him, offering her hand, telling him it's not too late, and something about her makes him believe it. Maybe this is all it takes.

Gently, carefully, he hovered his hand over hers. Her blue eyes fixated on his, leaving him in a trance he didn't want to break from. Her hand brushed against his and he felt their power connect and flow together. A beautiful bright light mixed with his darkness.

They stood like that for a moment. Lost in the other's gaze. Connecting through the Force on a level they never imagined. He could feel her flowing through him, like a stream in a dense forest twisting its way through the vines and rocks. Her eyes widened in surprise and her hand dropped, immediately drawing her connection back.

His heart-rate soared, he was intoxicated with her, but she had sensed the core of his darkness, he knew. Much more darkness than he was ever willing to share with her. He stepped back as she did, suddenly feeling vulnerable before her. He turned and willed himself away, trying to break the connection, but his room wouldn't reappear.

"Ben." she called from behind him. Something in her voice made his body tremble. He turned to look at her once more. Whatever she had seen or felt replaced the timidness that was in her eyes. Something had sparked inside of her, unlike anything he had ever seen before.

* * *

She gasped when their hands touched. She felt pulled into his dark eyes, drowning in a black fog that pulled her in deeper. Every fear, every bit of anger she ever felt was multiplied before her, and mixed with her own emotions were his. He was drowning, she could feel it.

Without a second thought she dropped her hand, bringing her back into reality. He turned from her and she felt her heart break for him. It only took a moment before she was able to compose herself, she felt the darkness settle in her mind. Suddenly she knew exactly what she needed to do. She knew how to save him.

"Ben." she called and watched him turn back to her. "I'm not afraid of it." she said shaking her head. She held her hand out to him again. He stood there for a long moment, seemingly unable to process what was going on. Then in three long strides he was before her, clasping one hand with hers, the other reaching gently under her chin pulling her lips to his.

She sighed as she leaned into him, lost in his touch, in his mind. Her thoughts mixed with his as their lips moved together. She could feel all of the pent up feelings he had pushed to the back of his mind come flooding forward in a rush against her but she held firm, determined to cool all of the hot darkness rising up in him. She lifted her hand to his face and felt his burning skin under hers. He moved his hand to her back, pulling her firmly against his body.

After a moment, they broke apart, panting at the sudden intensity between them. They gently rested their foreheads together as they caught their breath and regained their composure. "You've seen it all, and you don't care?" he asked gingerly pulling back to look her in the eyes.

"I do care, Ben. That's why I'm here. You don't have to drown alone in this. Let me help you." she said and she saw him wince at her words. "It's not that easy." He stated pulling away from her. She felt her frustration grow as he began to distance himself.

"Don't you understand?" She breathed, pleading with him. "There is a reason we were bonded together. There's a balance." She stepped forward and grabbed his and again, placing her palm on his. "Do you feel it?" she said, searching his eyes. "I didn't see it until now. Balance." she breathed and pulled his face towards her.

Her white Force signature collided with his black, and somewhere right in the middle was a gray peace. "Balance." he replied and she smiled at him, and in an instant, he was gone.

* * *

Kylo's eyes focused on the room in front of him. His heart was still racing from the previous moments. He had felt her confidence radiating from their Force bond, but where she was growing confident, he was growing more confused.

It was all he had ever grown to know. The darkness that had consumed him for years, that he had learned to tame and use to his advantage. The emotions that poured through him and were the catalyst for the empire he had built for himself. Now here, at the height of his power he felt his prior convictions crumble.

He felt it with her. The balance. Something he had never thought he could achieve, yet was constantly striving for. Snoke had told him how to achieve this level of peace within the dark side, and he had believed him, doing whatever it took to do it. Now everything he had ever believed was challenged by the light he had felt in Rey. The balance he had felt with her broke open old wounds he had buried within himself. Without her there, he was left with every emotion pouring out. Rage, pain, regret, turmoil. He screamed out into the empty room. He felt as if he was being ripped apart.

Slowly, he sank to his knees. Hot tears streaming down the side of his face as he knelt in anguish. "What has she done to me?" he said aloud, clenching his hands in frustration. Suddenly he could feel her, lingering in his mind, calling to him from afar. He felt her offer what little relief she could to his searing mind. He closed his eyes and focused his thoughts on the balance he had felt with her. The pain dwindled some and his hot breaths grew softer.

* * *

Rey could still feel him after he had left. Whatever connection they had just made did not vanish with him. She felt his emotions tumble forth as his walls were broken down. She sank to her knees, tears streaming down her face. She had no idea what this was doing to him, but she knew this was a vital part to ensuring he would be able to heal from his past sins. She offered what little she could through the remaining bond. Reaching out and weaving through his mind, calming what she could, but his anguish ripped through her like a knife.

She felt his relief at her touch, and settled with that. Before she could do more, the door to her room opened and Finn rushed over to her. "REY!" he called kneeling down and grabbing her shoulders. "What's wrong? Is it a Jedi thing? Are you okay?" he said quickly not registering her attempts at a response.

"I'm fine. It's okay." she managed to croak out, but it did little good. Finn was calling for Poe before she could explain further. Poe ran in and began asking the same questions as Finn. Rey did her best to try to calm them down but they wouldn't have it. They helped her up and into the bed where she closed her eyes from sudden exhaustion. Their voices were drowned out as she slipped into a deep, dreamless sleep.

* * *

 **Author's Note:**

Sorry for the delay guys! Hope this chapter was worth it though. More coming soon!


	8. Chapter 7

"Rey?" she heard a voice call her back to consciousness. Slowly, she opened her eyes and focused on the room around her. Finn and Poe were on either side of her, their faces washed over with relief and worry.

"How long was I asleep for?" she asked and propped herself up and rubbing her eyes. Finn pursed his lip and looked over at Poe.

"Over 16 hours, Sweetheart." Poe said gently. Unsure as to what her reaction to the news would be. She looked at him with bewilderment. She had no idea what affect the Force bond had between her and Ben, especially after the intense events of the previous day. Rey vaguely remembered the searing pain she had felt through it before she collapsed on the floor.

"What happened, Rey?" Finn said as he watched her begin processing. She bit her lip and looked up at him. Hesitant to tell him what really happened, she opted for something simpler.

"I've been exploring more of the Force... with Leia's permission." she added quickly when she saw their eyes widen. "I have found myself being able to connect and feel what other people are feeling. It's new territory, and I haven't learned how to block myself off from the effect of those things." she watched them register what she was saying.

"Well then who in the hell were you connecting to?" Poe demanded. "You were screaming and crying one second and passed out the next. We thought you were dying!" he swung his arms exasperatedly.

Rey knew she couldn't tell them the truth. Not when they were reacting this badly already. "I'm.. I'm not sure yet." she said. "It's fine." she tried to reassure them, but they weren't buying anything from her.

"Like I said before, it's going to take some time before I'm able to learn how to control those kinds of connections. Leia is aware of this training and the impacts it has on me. So the best thing for us to do now is try to move on." She stood and made her way to the door.

They knew she was hiding something from them. She could sense their uncertainty in her answers, but she also knew that both of them were very unfamiliar in the ways of the Force and were more willing to let some aspects of the story go for the time being.

She gave them both a small smile before she disappeared and made her way to the cockpit. Chewie greeted her with a concerned growl.

"Nothing to worry about, Chewie. Right now we need to focus on the mission. How close are we? She said seating herself in the co-pilot's chair.

" _We should be rendezvousing with a freighter soon. They'll be taking us into the planet so no one is able to recognise us. Beyond that, you'll need to call Leia. She's been waiting to speak with you anyway since you're apparently hallucinating and passing out in the back,"_ He ended on a sarcastic note. She threw him and exasperated glance and sighed as she moved back to the main hold.

Poe and Finn silenced whatever conversation they had been having when she entered the room. She opted to ignore whatever looks she was sure they were going to give her as she set up the holo system to call Leia.

The older woman's blue form appeared in front of her. "Rey, I trust everything is going okay? I've heard quite a bit has happened recently?" Her question was innocent enough, but Rey felt the true intent of her questions.

"Nothing to worry too much about." she stated nonchalantly. "It just takes time to learn to understand and learn new aspects of the Force. I'm sorry if I scared anyone." she stated and turned to look at the two men seated beside her.

Leia pursed her lips and moved on, aware this was the wrong time to have a proper conversation of the previous events. "You're nearing your rendezvous so let's go through the rest of the plan. I have trusted allies who will be in charge of transporting you to and from the planet. They will have suits for you to disguise yourselves with. You will be meeting at the Zyne Tower in the Galactic City in 8 hours. Your escorts will be in charge of getting you there safely." she paused for a moment before continuing.

"Once you are able to meet with these potential allies, do or say whatever you think necessary to draw them to our cause, but whatever you do, do not tell them where we are, and do not trust any of them. Keep things as brief as possible, the longer you are on the planet the more danger you are in. We can't risk losing you." Leia's voice trailed off.

"Understood, General" Rey responded.

"Good. May the Force be with us all." Leia finished and the call was cut.

* * *

"We've just received word on the upcoming meeting between the Resistance and their sympathisers." Hux stated with a smug smile creeping up onto his face. Kylo remained silent and waited for him to continue.

"Our sources have been able to infiltrate the meeting and will be ready and waiting when the Resistance group shows up." A dark, menacing look filled his eyes. "I have also gotten news the scavenger girl, Rey will be attending. I've taken the liberty of promising a great reward for a live capture. I would much rather watch her suffer for her actions of treason and murder against the first order." His eyes bulged and his mouth was practically foaming at the thought of torturing her.

Kylo felt his heart rate quicken as he read Hux's mind and could see the sickening things he was envisioning of doing to Rey. He swallowed his anger for the time being. He could not let Hux see or sense that he was not fully committed to this plan of action.

"Good. Keep me updated in the next few hours. I want to know if there are _any_ changes." he spat out as he attempted to keep his composure. "Certainly, Supreme Leader." Hux said and gave a small bow as he left the room.

Kylo had to think, and quickly, if there was any chance he was going to be able to save Rey, without the First Order, and most importantly, Hux, realising what was going on.

If he left it up to his spies and soldiers there was little chance for her escape. It was a coup. There was only one way she was going to get out of this. He was going to have to go for himself and do whatever he could to get her out of the without raising suspicion.

"Prepare my ship." he called to the nearest soldier. "Hux there has been a change of plans." He said into his comm. "I've decided to take on this mission personally to ensure its success. Inform your men I will be planet-side this evening."

* * *

 **Author's Note:**

Sorry for the short chapter, but I almost didn't have anything go up tonight. I managed to delete everything I had written after I was about 80% through the chapter and had to rewrite everything all over again. Back to writing in Google Docs so I have the auto save feature! I hope to have the next chapter up for you all in the next couple of days and I promise it will be double in length! Until then let me know what you all think! Thanks!


	9. Chapter 8

The Falcon lurched as they landed inside the freighter. Tension rose as everyone took a deep breath, unsure what the next steps were.

"This is Miles, owner of this ship. I've just spoken with General Organa and been briefed on the situation. Please feel free to exit your ship and follow your escort to the bridge where we can discuss some of the details of this mission." a rough voice called over the comm system. Chewie growled in obstinance.

" _I'll be staying here until you all come back. Let me know if you have any problems."_ He stated firmly and made his way to his room. Rey let out a breath of air and nodded to Poe and Finn who were standing near the doorway waiting to open the hatch.

The ship opened to reveal the cargo bay they had landed in. The dark ship seemed quite full with various crates scattered around the hold. They cautiously stepped down the ramp, Rey leading with both men flanking her sides. She knew better than to be off her guard, and was attempting to scan the room around her with the Force to see if she could sense anything out of place.

A nearby door opened and two men walked over to meet them. They didn't look much older than Rey did, but the worn looks on their faces and hands told her more than she needed to ask. They met her eyes briefly before gesturing them to follow them back through the doors they entered. Rey could sense their nervousness as they made their way through the ship to the bridge.

Two large doors opened before them at the end of a long hallway that opened up into what Rey assumed to be the bridge. An older man, clad in a worn leather jacket with a holster tied to his leg turned and looked at the group who had just entered.

"This it?" he asked as he looked them all over. The men who had led them just shrugged and went back to the hallway without a word. Rey stole a glance at Poe and Finn who looked equally as intrigued as she felt.

"Are you.. Miles?" Rey asked the older man tentatively. He gave a rough laugh. "That's me, kid." he said and turned to bark orders to a nearby crewman. "Set course for Coruscant, let's get this over with. Follow me." he motioned to the trio still standing in the doorway. Something about his demeanor was familiar. Like something she had felt before. Somehow, she knew she could trust him.

He led them to a smaller adjacent room with a table for them to sit at. "Here's the plan we have so far. I can take you in to Coruscant. Got a usual shipment for there anyway so we won't be raising suspicion. The landing site is quite a ways off from the tower you need to get to. I have someone who can take you there, but it's not going to be easy.." he paused. "Or safe."

The room was silent. They had expected at least this much. "Now I have some suits you can have that will be able to disguise you and your voices, but you're going to need to get some fake ID's to be able to get past security once you're planetside. I can set you up with someone that can do that, but it's going to be spendy."

Rey sighed. They didn't really have a choice at this point, but she knew the Resistance was running low on credits. She nodded for him to continue. "Same guy that brings you in will be waiting for your call when you're ready to leave. I'll give you the beacon code for that, but it's important you know that outside of a few people on this ship, _no one can be trusted."_

"Well this is all fine and dandy but how do we know that _you_ can be trusted?" Poe snorted out at the older man. "I mean for all we know you're the one we should be worried about." he said and folded his arms over his chest.

Rey watched Miles flinch with irritation. "Not that it's really any of your concern, but I owe the General more than a few favors." He sighed for a moment, lost in recollection. "And.." he continued. "Han and I went way back." He said bitterly.

" _That's it!"_ Rey thought to herself. She could easily spot the similarities Miles had with Han. It was strangely comforting to know she was in the hands of an old friend of his, too.

"Any _other_ questions?" Miles said sarcastically, eyeing Poe and Finn again who sat silent with their jaws clenched shut. "Good. It's going to be a few hours before we get to Coruscant. You three best get your suits and prepare for landing." he said dismissively as he made his way back to the bridge.

"I'm not sure I like this guy." Poe said under his breath as he left. Rey rolled her eyes at him. "I don't think you like _any_ guy." she said as she pushed her chair back and left the room without giving him another look. She wanted to speak with Miles before she did anything else. Something about him drew her to him.

She carefully stepped up beside him as he was speaking with another crew member. He looked up from the controls and lifted an eyebrow at her presence. "Questions?" he asked.

"No." she answered quickly. "I.. I mean, yes. Just, not about the mission." she stumbled through her words. Not entirely sure what she even wanted to say. Miles gave her an odd look before fully facing her to give her his entire attention.

"Well I.. I just wanted to ask about Han I guess." she said quietly shifting her eyes to the floor. "Ah, Han." Miles replied stroking his short beard. "How do you know him?" He asked her.

"It's... complicated." She responded lamely. "He was a good friend of mine.. Before.." She trailed off. Miles nodded his head solemnly. "But I wanted to hear more about you both. Did you work together?" she asked trying to switch the subject.

Miles gave a short laugh. "You could say that." he said before he gave a great sigh. "It was.. Complicated." he said, meeting her eye with a small twinkle. "We have helped each other with smuggling projects a lot over the years. We had a bit of a falling out quite some time ago. Haven't heard anything from him until Leia called me up a few days ago to call in this favor and tell me the news." He stared off into the dark space outside the window.

"I can't believe that little Ben would.." his voice choked. So Leia had told him the truth of what happened. Rey furrowed her brow and sighed.

"So you understand how important it is we complete this mission?" she asked quietly.

"Oh that I do. I was never one to get into politics, doesn't matter much who's in charge when you're breaking the law either way. But when Leia told me who was behind it all.." his voice faded out again. Rey pursed her lips and gave him a small nod before excusing herself back to the Falcon.

"One more thing." Miles called from behind her. She turned to face him again and saw something in his eyes that wasn't there before. "Would you tell Chewie... Tell him I'm sorry." he said and quickly turned back to the controls. Rey wondered for a moment what he might be referencing but decided it was probably better she didn't know.

* * *

The boys already had their gear in the ship by the time she made her way back there. Chewie was still nowhere in sight. Miles' comment now made a little more sense for the Wookies odd behavior. She made a mental note to remember to tell him what Miles had said before they departed on the planet.

"Check this out!" Finn said as he emerged in his new suit. Fully black from head to toe, his helmet concealing his voice with a deeper, slightly robotic filter.

"You know you don't really look like you'd fare well in head to toe armor. Leather might be more your style." Poe teased from where he was sitting. Finn shot him a glare as Rey stifled a laugh at the jab.

"Has anyone told you how hilarious you are" Finn said back, taking his helmet off. The two continued their play argument as Rey grabbed her own suit to go change. She had a hard time figuring out how to properly wear everything. The garb seemed simple until she realized how many pieces there were. She did her best and emerged with her helmet in her hand.

The room was silent when she entered. Poe and Finn sat wide eyed, staring at her.

"Wow!" Finn said quietly. "You look..."

"Bad. Ass. Sweetheart." Poe finished. Rey looked down at her figure. The suit was more form fitting than what she was used to wearing, and the black material was a stark difference from the tan and brown she usually wore. She suddenly felt very self-conscious of herself.

"But let me give you a few tips from a former armor expert." Finn said as he got up and walked over to her. She was slightly embarrassed as he grabbed some of the parts and snapped them into the correct place. He walked behind her and gave a slight laugh. "I'm going to have to undo some of this to put the straps in the right spot, is that okay?" he asked.

She gave a small, embarrassed, laugh in return and nodded her head. She reached around to pull her hair that was hanging loosely out of his way. She felt the suit relax as he undid something, then quickly snap back into place as he pulled the straps. She laughed at herself when she jumped at his sudden abrasiveness.

Finn gave her a pat on the shoulder. "There, now you just can never take it off." he said with a laugh and sat down back next to Poe, who Rey noted had a very irritated look on his face. She shrugged it off. Poe was usually mad about something anyway.

"Ok then. Let's get all the last minute preparations done before we reach the planet." she said and turned from them.

* * *

"We're clearing the atmosphere now. You can make your way to the hangar door where we will rendezvous with your new escort." Miles called over the comm. "Remember, they are not to be trusted under any circumstances. They've been paid well, but, well.. The First Order pays better." he said and broke off connection.

The three made their way to the door. Rey was slightly jealous of Finn, who was the most comfortable with the anonymity of a suit. She just felt odd and out of place.

Miles came up beside them and opened the door. "Good luck out there." he said quietly enough for Rey to hear. A dark figure approached them. Tall, slim, and alien were the only things Rey was able to note about this new escort. "This is Striker, He'll be taking you to get your ID's then to the tower." he gave a small nod to the figure who then turned and began walking away.

Rey quickly stepped up and followed after. They made their way quietly out of the hangar and into the streets. Striker motioned for the three to enter a nearby speeder before settling himself into the driver's seat.

They ascended into the air, twisting through the buildings. Rey had never seen anything like it before in her life. Everything was city. There were buildings everywhere she looked, and paths upon paths of speeders flying through the air.

They didn't go far before they flew underground. Their surroundings growing darker by the moment. Striker set the speeder down in an alley and exited, motioning for them to follow him down the alley and into a nearby doorway.

Inside was just as dark. Rey could tell there was smoke and debris everywhere. They followed Striker silently down a hallway littered with people until they reached a large, black, door. He paused in front of it and hit it with what Rey assumed was some sort of secret pattern. Suddenly a viewport was opened. Striker raised his hand and showed the bouncer something and the door was opened for them.

The room was small. Screens lined several walls showing various forms of ID. A nearby droid came up to them. "What kind and how many?" it said with a monotone voice. "3, for the Zyne Tower." Rey said attempting to keep her voice equally level.

"Payment." the droid requested, raising its hand out for her to scan. Rey hovered her hand over the droid, completing the transaction. She had to call Leia again explaining the need for more credits, and somehow, Leia was able to get more for them.

The droid turned and began working on a nearby console. After a moment the droid turned back. "You have been given full access to level 10 Coruscant, your ID cards have been digitally entered into the system as of now. Thank you." It turned and walked away. " _That was easy enough."_ Rey thought to herself.

Striker led them back the way they had come and back into the speeder. In a few minutes, they were back above ground. Rey could see the sunlight just coming up over the horizon as they sped through the city.

In the distance, she could see a tall dark building. It overshadowed most of the nearby skyscrapers. She felt something dark emanating from it that grew as they drew closer. She quickly surmised that was the Zyne tower, and they were heading straight to it.

* * *

Kylo's ship made its way down to the surface. He knew he would have to land quite a ways off to be able to make it to the tower undetected. He still had no idea what he was going to accomplish. Deep down, he knew he was being foolish. This wasn't going to accomplish anything for him as Supreme Leader, and yet.. He knew he had to do it anyway.

After his last meeting with Rey, he could feel a change somewhere within him. Not the call of the Light side like he had before, but a call to Balance, and right now he only knew of one person who had shown him balance between the Force.

He landed in a hangar a few blocks from the Tower. Hoping his ship wasn't spotted, he made his way to a generic looking speeder he could take straight to the tower. He wasn't certain when the meeting would be taking place, but was aware it would most likely be in the coming hours, so he needed to make sure he was there to observe what was going on.

Leaving the speeder in one of the docks, he was glad he had previously only made public appearances in his suit. Now he was able to go where he wished without his helmet letting people know who he was.

Kylo made his way inside the tower. His confident strides taking him to where he guessed the security ward to be. Two large doors were watched by guards on either side. "I'm sorry sir but you're not permitted in here without proper identification." one said, placing his hand up to stop him.

Kylo stifled his irritation at the man waving his arm in front of them. "You will let me through and tell no one." he said and watched as the men stiffened and repeated his words. He continued through until he reached the main room, where he quickly and quietly repeated the same process to each guard.

He sat in the main chair where he was able to view the camera's in the building, and took a moment to reach out in the Force. Trying to sense if she was already nearby. Nothing.

Kylo settled himself in, ready to wait for whatever was about to happen. He saw a room being set up, and assumed this was where the meeting would be taking place. He sighed. This was going to take patience, something he had little of.

* * *

As they came up on the Tower, Rey couldn't help but feel the darkness grow stronger. Something was off, but she didn't know what. She decided to keep silent until they were away from Striker.

He pulled them into the docking station and led them inside to a waiting chamber. Shoving a device in her hand, she recognized it as a beacon to call him when they needed to leave. She simply nodded her answer and watched as he got back into the speeder, and left.

They stood there for a moment, unsure what to do, before they were greeted by service droids. "Excuse me, can I help you?" one asked them.

"We're here for the meeting." Poe spoke up beside her. The droid simply turned and waved them forward. "I will take you to the room immediately. They've been expecting you."

* * *

 **Author's Note:**

It's here! As promised, an extra long chapter for your patience. I was ready to upload it yesterday but FF was having some server issues and wouldn't let me.

As an added bonus, I've got a **second** long chapter coming up today as well. I hope you all enjoy!


	10. Chapter 9

They made their way into a large room lined with chairs. They seemed to be the first ones there. She looked at Poe and Finn. "What do we do now?" she asked her voice filter still active.

"I guess, we wait?" Finn replied with a shrug. They sat down at some of the nearby chairs. Rey looked out the window at the sunrise. The city was more than she ever could have imagined. Where she had grown up alone in dune after dune of sand, this place was alive and breathing. Constantly moving and changing.

She stopped for a moment. She had felt it again. A ripple through the Force, unlike anything she had felt before. There was no way to pinpoint where it was coming from or what it meant. She stiffened and looked around the room to see if she could see anyone. Suddenly the doors opened and a small group of people and aliens trailed in.

They stopped for only a moment in hesitation when they saw the group sitting alone. Odd looks were exchanged as they made their way to their seats. A tall man sat at the center, his long blue robes cascading around him. He had very large blue-green eyes and sharp horns coming out of his forehead.

"I suppose you are who Leia has sent." he said gesturing to the trio who stood and walked to the center of the room. He looked at them disapprovingly.

"We are. We've come to negotiate your support of the Resistance." Rey said stiffly. The man gave a huff of exasperation.

"I am well aware of your intentions. I am prepared to help the Resistance, given my terms are met. Remove your helmet and prove to me you are who you claim to be, Jedi." the words rippled off his tongue with disgust. Rey bit her tongue and did as he had asked, removing her helmet. His eyes widened with delight, and the other members began whispering to one another.

She placed her helmet under her arm and looked at Finn and Poe who had done the same. The man leaned forward and licked his lips. "I said PROVE IT." he demanded. Rey felt her anger growing at the callous attitude of the man in front of her. She didn't know who he was, but gathered he was the sole reason she specifically had to come here.

She dropped her helmet and clenched her hands together in a bitter rage. Closing her eyes she focused on everything around her in the room. Her chest heaving in anger. She opened them and realized she had levitated everything in the room. Including those sitting in the chairs in front of her.

Most of the attendees looked impressed, or scared, but the man in the middle was sneering with delight. She slowly dropped the chairs back down, one by one, purposely leaving his for last. As the legs of the chair settled back down on the ground he began to slowly clap. The others joined in, but Rey could tell this was his own way of mocking her.

"Anything else?" she asked through gritted teeth.

"Not at all, I think that was quite enough." He said with the sneer still on his face. "Is it agreed then?" he looked over to his companions, who all nodded their heads at him. "Good. You may tell the General we are able to wire funds immediately.. Where exactly was she again?" he raised an eyebrow.

It didn't phase Rey. She had no idea why she had to meet with this disgusting man, but she knew better than to fall into one of his tricks. "That won't be necessary. My associates here have all the routing numbers. We have to keep that information to ourselves, you understand." she replied in the same mocking tone.

He sat back in his chair and she could see the irritation edge onto his face. "Absolutely. Greeda, take the men with you to get that situated. Our.. Jedi can wait here for them." he said with a slight smile.

The nearby droid took Poe and Finn with her and the guests stood and began to depart as well. The last to get up was the blue-robed man. He walked over to Rey and grabbed her hand. "It was a pleasure to meet you, Rey." he said before he gave a sinister smile and left the room.

Rey sighed in relief once the room had emptied and walked back over to the window she had been gazing out before. They did it, all they needed to do now was get the hell out of here. She turned and froze. He used her name, didn't he? But she had never given her name, and was certain that Leia didn't either.

Immediately she walked to the door only to find it wouldn't open. She was locked in. "Oh _SHIT!_ " she said aloud. It was a trap, the whole thing was one giant ruse to trap her, and they had done it. She quickly looked around for another escape only to find the empty room around her.

She pulled at the door with the Force, but nothing moved. Her heart raced, and she began panicking, there was nothing she could do. She was completely at the mercy of this monster she knew would hand her right over to the First Order, and there was no way she was going to survive that.

Suddenly the door opened and she braced herself for the guards she knew were about to grab her. Strong arms grabbed each of hers, forcing the gun she had pointed at the door downwards. She readied herself to fight back before she heard what was being said to her. "REY, IT'S ME!" she paused and looked up. She wasn't going crazy, she was being held down by Ben Solo.

"Ben?" she asked in disbelief. His grip loosened on her arms and slid down to grab her hands.

"There isn't time to explain you have to come with me." he said desperately trying to get her to agree without argument. She gulped and nodded. "Okay, Okay, I trust you." she said and followed as he lead her out of the room.

She had been right about the trap, there were First Order Troopers littered around the hallway. She quickly realised that Ben had to have been the one to take them all out. His own army.

They made there way through several rooms before she stopped. "Wait Ben we have to get Poe and Finn!" She said and watched him whip around back to her.

"There isn't time, we have to go NOW!" he yelled back at her, but he knew the argument was lost before it started. He huffed and quickly ran out the opposite door with her in tow. "I might know where they're being held." he said and weaved her through more halls.

Eventually they made their way to what appeared to be the Security. Ben was kicking down door after door to find them. "We're running out of time, there's going to be back-up troopers here any second." he yelled as he kicked down another.

"REY?" she heard a call come from the one Ben had just opened.

"I'm here! Are you both okay?" She called back as they emerged from the room breathless. "

"Yes, we're fine! Strikers got the speeder waiting for us downstairs we need to get the hell out of here." Poe yelled as the sound of explosions came from the other rooms.

Rey looked past the boys to the tall figure standing behind them. They turned to see what she was looking out and started to yell.

"POE, FINN, STOP." she yelled and reached out with the Force, freezing them. Her eyes widened at the sudden power she never knew she had. Immediately dropping them they yelled and ran behind her.

"WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON HERE." Finn yelled from behind her, still staring at the visibly irritated Supreme Leader on the other end of the hallway.

"Rey if we want to live we need to get the hell out of her, RIGHT NOW.!" Poe called.

She looked back at Ben, who was standing there panting. She attempted to take a moment to sort out whatever the hell was happening here. If he killed all those men, he's now a traitor to the Empire, he has nowhere to go, and is more likely confused. There was no way she was just going to leave him.

"You to get to the ship. I'm staying." she called back. They both started screaming out their objections. "NO, listen to me. Go back to the ship, get away from here. I will contact you as soon as I can. Trust me." she pleaded with the both of them. "You can trust me, just please go." she yelled as another explosion rocked the building.

They looked at her in disbelief before Finn grabbed Poe and began running. Rey sighed in relief and turned back to Ben. "Okay." she said. His expression softened when he saw her run back to him. "Let's get out of here." she said.

He nodded and extended his arm to her. She grabbed his hand and they fled down more halls and stairways. They made it to a different dock than the one she had entered from and he led her to the closest speeder. As soon as they made it out of the tower they had Tie Fighters on their tails.

Rey could only hold on as Ben navigated the mess of speeders, buildings, and Fighters following them. He suddenly dropped them down into the dark underside of the city, losing some of the fighters in the process.

"You have a plan. Please tell me you have a plan." she shouted in shock as several fighters aligned behind them. He didn't answer but instead pulled the speeder into a 180 and flew down a nearby alley suddenly stopping and dropping turning all lights off. They watched as the speeders chased each other down the alley.

"Oh, you had a plan." Rey said still visibly disgruntled. Ben started the speeder back up and took them out of the underside to a nearby hanger where she recognised a First Order ship. They jumped out and made there way over before Rey realised it was a single piloted ship.

She just raised an eyebrow and looked at him. "How in the hell are we both supposed to fit in this." She asked. He still had a stoic look on his face when he responded. "Tightly."

She wanted to roll her eyes at him but before she knew it he had jumped inside and motioned for her to sit on top of him. Nearby explosions forced her to jump in quickly and think later. Ben's arms circled around her small frame to grab the controls as he took them out of the hangar.

They were able to make it well into the atmosphere before they noticed the giant First Order dreadnaught that appeared in the sky above them. They wouldn't be able to jump into hyperspace until they were well out of the gravitational pull of the planet.

They had just made it out of the atmosphere when they watched fighters deploy from the dreadnaught. "How much time do we have before we can do a hyperspace jump?" she asked him uncertain what any of the controls said.

"45 seconds." he said quietly in her ear. She tried not to revel in the fact that they were so close. She could feel his hot breath on the back of her neck, his arms around her, or that she was literally sitting on his lap. Especially given the events of their last meeting.

She looked around, watching the fighters get into formation around them. Ben was doing what little he could to hold them off.

"Rey you have to stop moving your hair keeps getting in my face." he said and her eyes widened at the sudden realization. She slowly shrunk down just a little to see if that would help at all, but realised she was only further pressing her body into him.

"20 seconds." Was all he said. They jerked at the few shots that were able to hit them. " _Just 10 more seconds, we can do this."_ Rey thought to herself. She closed her eyes and focused on the Force around them.

3..2..1.. Then finally, silence as they slipped into hyperspace, both breathing a sigh of relief.

"Can't they track us?" Rey wondered aloud.

"No. This ship has special barriers to prevent that. But just to be safe we should probably bounce between a few systems." he said.

They sat in silence for a few seconds. Rey desperately wanted him to explain what was going on, but this was neither the time or the place. She'd have to wait until they landed... wherever they were going.

"Where are we going?" She asked quietly.

He sighed. "Some place they'll never find us."

She relaxed. She knew she should be more concerned, but right now, after everything, she felt a peace through it all. She felt balanced.

* * *

Kylo passed them through a few systems to ensure they weren't followed before he set his final course. There was no going back now, but somehow, he was at peace with it. He never intended for things to go the way they did, but of course he never expected a third party to go behind his back and try to capture Rey. There really wasn't an option.

He finally had time to enjoy the moment. She was here, with him. Calm and at peace.. Happy even? She had chosen him this time, he watched when her friends tried to convince her to come, his heart breaking as she spoke to them, but she turned and grabbed his hand.

There wasn't time to think in that moment, what an incredible thing had just happened between them. His heart began beating faster.

"Are you okay?" she asked quietly. They had been sitting in silence for some time. There was so much to be said, but these were less-than-ideal conditions.

"I'm fine." he responded. There was no way to honestly answer that question at this moment. He was happy to see she accepted that response and settled her head back against his chest. He reveled in her touch, although involuntary right now. The opportunity to be this close to her, and in person, soothed every need he didn't know he had.

"We'll be there soon." he said adjusting the course slightly.

"Mhmm." she mumbled and he noticed her closed eyes for the first time.

Somehow, everything around them had become more chaotic, yet here in his ship, they were peaceful.

Perhaps this is all happening as Force wills it.

* * *

 **Authors Note:**

Surprise! Hope you all are enjoying the story so far, we've still got a ways to go though, so hold on tight! Thanks for reading! :)


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